Bifrost by Andrzej Nowicki

Andrzej Nowicki returns to Chapter House Lane with his show ‘Bifrost’, on display throughout February. Opening Thursday 7 February, join us for drinks from 6-8pm to see the new works unveiled. Whereas ‘myth’ suggests archaic, fanciful beliefs and ‘sci-fi’ the futuristic, the forum for their discussion is often the same as one borrows motifs from the other. Similarly, Nowicki defies real time and with a highly contemporary visual style, recreates images which hark back to the Bifrost Bridge of Norse mythology. In this iteration, Nowicki lays out his scenes like snippets of story, with portraits pulled from the landscapes to build personal dossiers. The nobility of his figures add grandeur to a myth that will no doubt continue to be retold.

While Norse strongmen were out ‘viking’, pre-industrial times in the far North required repetitive work by hand and by ‘man’. Reliant on fire for warmth, the actual frost is felt in Nowicki’s mixed media works with crystalline forms replicated in figures and features amid the landscape. Perhaps in response to a cold, monochromatic environment, the Bifrost Bridge was dreamt up in rainbow shades; Nowicki translates this colour in sprays of flowers – a dormant spring floating like a promise across the works. (Text by CHL)